VIETNAM’s rubber exports is expected to reach US$4.5 billion this year, an increase to last year’s value of US$4.26 billion, says Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, Chief of the Office of the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA).
The increasing global demand for rubber drives expansion for the country, and in turn increase its exports of rubber, she says.
Rubber is eighth in Vietnam’s export commodity staples (after garment and textiles, telephones, crude oil, electronic products, footwear, seafood and machinery). The country is also the world’s fifth largest producer of natural rubber, with 910,500 hectares of rubber plantation, producing 836,600 tonnes of rubber in 2012, according to VRA data.
The association is working with the Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade towards a sustainable rubber export strategy. It is also urging companies to share information on price, consumption and market situation to be able to draft a viable trading scheme.
Meanwhile, it is reportedly planning to set up a rubber trading floor in 2015 to effect transparency in prices for the benefit of both buyers and sellers.